First Samuel 30:7

The Bible says in First Samuel 30:7-8, “And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.[8] And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.” David had a decision to make. Should he pursue this enemy or not. From a human standpoint the decision was probably easy. Should they try and get their wives and children back or not? Before David made the decision notice that it says in verse eight, “David inquired at the LORD.” Every Christian should do this for every decision in their lives. Ask the Lord to guide you and give you wisdom. Of course, if you are going to ask the Lord, you must be surrendered to what He wants. If you already know what you want, and you are determined to do it no matter what, you are in a dangerous place. It will be a disaster to go your way instead of God’s way in some matter.

The Bible says in First Samuel 30:9-16, “So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.[10] But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.[11] And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;[12] And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.[13] And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.[14] We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.[15] And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.[16] And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.” These verses show the hand of God guiding David and giving David success whatever David did and wherever he went. Even though David had to reduce the number of soldiers that went with him, it is by the power of God that victory comes, and not by the strength of man. It was not a coincidence that they met up with the young man of Egypt who just happened to have been a servant of an Amalekite. That was God. It was not a coincidence that the Amalekites were throwing a party to celebrate the success of their raids on the cities and were thus distracted. That was God.

The Bible says in First Samuel 30:17-25, “And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.[18] And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.[19] And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.[20] And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.[21] And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.[22] Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.[23] Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.[24] For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.[25] And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.” Of course, David won the battle. He was following the Lord. David went into battle at the direction of the Lord. The wrongs were righted. Good prevailed. Notice also how good and fair David was to the people. He was a good leader. The people were blessed to have David as their leader. That is one way of knowing if God has blessed your land or not: by the leaders that God has given to you. The leaders make the laws and enforce the laws. If you have the wrong leaders, you will have trouble in the land both now and for years to come. It might take time to fix the problems of bad leaders. But God is in control. God gives the leaders that He wants to give to a nation for the purposes that God has. His ways are not our ways.

The Bible says in First Samuel 30:26-31, “And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;[27] To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,[28] And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,[29] And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites,[30] And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chor-ashan, and to them which were in Athach,[31] And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.” These verses show us that David was generous, he cared about others, he shared his material possessions, and he had common sense. David knew that he was called of God to be king. David knew that the best scenario was to have the people like him. Treat people well, give them gifts from your heart, and they will like you. Understand human nature.

The Bible says in First Samuel 31:1-6, “Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.[2] And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul's sons.[3] And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.[4] Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.[5] And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.[6] So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.” Why did the Philistines have such a complete victory over King Saul and his sons and the other soldiers with them? Why were Saul and Jonathan and the others killed that day? God. God gives life and He takes it. Everything from the beginning of life until death fits into God’s great plan. Saul was told that he would not be allowed to continue as king. Saul was told that David was anointed to be king. That was God’s will and God’s plan. Saul resisted in every way that he could, even many times trying to kill David. But God decides who lives and who dies because God has a plan for every life. Remember that. You might need that belief if the Lord takes someone that you know and love.

God used the Philistines to end Saul’s life. It was a very violent death. War is hell. The Philistine soldiers overwhelmed Saul and his men. They were all killed. Saul was then beheaded and his body was hung on a wall to mock the Israelites and to be a trophy to these violent people. My recommendation is that you follow the Lord. If you do not, the end will be terrible. Saul proved that truth. “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.”

The Bible says in First Samuel 31:7-13, “And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.[8] And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.[9] And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.[10] And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.[11] And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;[12] All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.[13] And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.” No soldier was left behind. This is the same principle that is a part of our military. We always honor those who have given the last full measure of life on the battlefield, and their bodies deserve being treated with honor as our expression of gratitude for their sacrifice. We will always honor all our veterans for this reason. These are the ones who put themselves in harm’s way for the benefit of all the other citizens. Thank God that we have such patriots.

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